5.  The applicants were born in 1977 and 1956 respectively and live in Zagreb.
6.  The first applicant is a person divested of legal capacity owing to his mental and physical retardation. He goes to a workshop for adults at the V.B. primary school in Zagreb for twelve hours a week. He is taken care of by his mother, the second applicant. The medical documentation of 16 June 2008 submitted in respect of the first applicant describes his health as follows:
“... in his very early childhood he suffered from purulent meningitis, which resulted in permanent consequences and epilepsy. He is retarded in his mental and physical development and is under the constant supervision of a neurologist and psychiatrist. Owing to hydrocephalus he has had a Pudenz valve [a type of cerebrospinal fluid shunt] implanted. ... his eyesight is very poor ... and he is dependent on his mother as regards feeding, dressing, personal hygiene and moving about. His spine is mobile but painful in the lower region. ... he suffers from severe foot deformation, ... has difficulty walking; walking on his toes and heels is not possible. Mentally he is emotionally distant, fearful and he has a poor vocabulary. ...”
7.  The applicants live in a ground-floor flat in a block of flats in Špansko, a part of Zagreb. The A.K. primary school is nearby in their neighbourhood.
8.  It appears that the applicants were subjected to harassment between July 2008 and February 2011. They alleged that pupils from the A.K. primary school, all minors, frequently harassed them, and in particular the first applicant, at all times of the day, especially when the pupils returned home from school in groups and in the late afternoon and evening when they gathered without parental supervision on and around a wooden bench in front of the balcony of the applicants’ flat. The harassment, in their submission, was motivated by the first applicant’s health and both applicants’ Serbian origin. A larger group of children, also minors, came daily to a park in front of the applicants’ flat, shouted obscenities at the first applicant, called him names and wrote insulting messages on the pavement. The children often rang the applicants’ bell, asking when the first applicant was going out. They often spat at him.
9.  A police report of 31 July 2008 shows that the second applicant called the police at 9.12 p.m. and complained that unknown young persons were harassing her son and had smashed some objects on her balcony. The police arrived at the applicants’ home at 9.30 p.m. and the second applicant told them that at about 6 p.m. she and the first applicant had left the flat and that when they had returned at about 9 p.m. she had found the balcony ruined and all the flower beds torn up. She also told the police that the first applicant had been harassed for a longer period of time by children in the neighbourhood on account of his mental retardation. She named two of the children.
10.  On 2 March 2009 the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre ordered the supervision of the parental care of D.K., a pupil at A.K. primary school, on account of his poor school results, problematic behaviour and tendency to commit criminal offences. There was no mention of his involvement in the harassment of the applicants.
11.  A medical report drawn up on 6 April 2009 shows that the first applicant had been psychologically and physically harassed in the street and that he had cigarette burns on both hands. The doctor asked the social authorities to institute proceedings for the protection of the first applicant as a person with serious mental disorders and described him as a peaceful and benign person who could not and did not know how to defend himself from the abusers.
12.  In a letter of 20 April 2009 to the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities, the second applicant complained that on 4 April 2009 two children, D.K. and I.M., had harassed the first applicant. She alleged that while riding their bicycles they had approached the first applicant and burned his hands with cigarettes. She also complained that the first applicant had been continually harassed by children attending a nearby school on the basis of his mental retardation and added that she had on numerous occasions complained to the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre and the authorities of the A.K. primary school, but to no avail.
13.  On the same day the applicants’ lawyer complained to the police about the incident of 4 April 2009.
14.  A police report of 5 May 2009 records that on that day on the premises of the II Zagreb Police Station the police interviewed D.K., born in 1997, and P.B., born in 1995. The relevant part of the report in respect of D.K. reads:
“When asked whether he remembers the event of 4 April 2009 in ... Zagreb, [D.K.] said that at about 12 noon he was there with his friend I.M., who is in the seventh grade at A.K. primary school, and that P.B., an older boy from the seventh grade of the same school, arrived together with two men, unknown to him, who were playing with a ball. A person who is disabled and has had problems from birth and who lives in a block of flats in ... Street was playing between the buildings. At one point, P.B. lit a cigarette, approached Dalibor and burned his right hand several times, after which they all ran away because that person started to shout.”
The relevant part of the report in respect of P.B. reads:
“When asked whether he remembers the event of 4 April 2009 in ... Zagreb, concerning the harassment of a disabled person, Dalibor Đorđević, [P.B.] says that he was not present on that occasion but that at the beginning of that week during the morning break he had met D.K., who is in the fifth grade at the same school and who told him that he [D.K.] and I.M. at about 12 noon on Saturday had burned with a cigarette the hand of a person named Dalibor in ... Street who lives on that street and is disabled.
When asked a further question as to whether he knew what that person looks like, he answered that he used to go to play on that street with other boys from the neighbourhood and he saw that person, who is about thirty, strongly built, has short salt-and-pepper hair and a pale complexion and has difficulty speaking. That person plays with other children who tease him and he runs after them and beats them.”
15.  A police report of 7 May 2009 records that on that day on the premises of the II Zagreb Police Station the police interviewed I.M., born in 1994. The relevant part of the report reads:
“When asked whether he remembers the event of 4 April 2009 in ... Zagreb, concerning the harassment of a disabled person, Dalibor Đorđević, between thirty and forty years old, [I.M.] said that he remembered that occasion, that it was a Saturday ... and that he took his bicycle and went ... with D.K. to ... Street, where they saw Dalibor, a person disabled from birth, between the buildings, playing with a ball with some children who took the ball and did not want to return it to him. When he saw this, he [I.M.] asked the children why they did not give the ball back to Dalibor, and Dalibor started to shout and wave his hands. The children then threw the ball and he took it. He [I.M.] was holding a cigarette in his left hand ... and as he was passing Dalibor on his bicycle he [Dalibor] started to wave his hands and slapped him a few times on the hand in which he was holding the cigarette and thus Dalibor burned his hand. He was sure that he burned Dalibor only once and he was sorry for it. He did not understand why Dalibor reacted in such a manner because it was not his [I.M.’s] fault that some children took his ball. The pupil P.B. was not with them.
...
When asked a further question as to whether Dalibor had problems with other children, [I.M.] answered that he is often on that street where Dalibor plays ball with other boys and that these children tease Dalibor because of his illness ... and then he runs after them and catches them.
In the end [I.M.’s] mother R. was advised to keep an eye on I.M.’s behaviour. She said that she had no problems with him and she did not know why he had done this.”
16.  On 19 May 2009 the II Zagreb Police Station sent a report to the Zagreb State Attorney’s Juvenile Office stating that
–  on 16 April 2009 they had received a letter from the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre stating that it had received a letter from the second applicant in which she had alleged that her son had been ill-treated by D.K. and others and enclosed medical documentation; and
–  on 30 April 2009 they had received a letter from the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities stating that she had also received a letter from the second applicant who was seeking help in connection with the frequent harassment of the first applicant.
The police also informed the Zagreb State Attorney’s Juvenile Office about the interviews they had conducted with the children D.K., I.M. and P.B.
17.  In a letter of 20 May 2009 the II Zagreb Police Station informed the Ombudswoman that they had interviewed the children I.M. and D.K., that they had contacted the headmaster of A.K. primary school, that the police officers from the station had been informed about the problems and that they had regularly patrolled the streets in question.
18.  On 17 July 2009 the police informed the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre that they had established that on 4 April 2009 at about 12 noon the first applicant had been playing with a ball in the street with some boys from the neighbourhood who had taken his ball away, which had upset him. When the boys I.M. and D.K. had gone past the first applicant he had waved his hands and I.M. had unintentionally burned them.
19.  On 16 July 2009 the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre drew up a report on the first applicant. The relevant part of the report reads:
“ ...
On 6 August 2008 [the first applicant’s] mother, Radmila, complained to us about harassment of Dalibor, alleging that the children ... were visiting the girls V.K. and I.K., who lived in their block of flats. The K. girls said that they had not harassed Dalibor and that the leader of the group had been H.B.
An agreement has been reached with the K. girls and their mother, J.F., that the girls will stop hanging around in front of the block of flats and will find another place to do so in order to avoid conflicts.
20.  On 27 July 2009 the Zagreb Municipality State Attorney’s Office informed the second applicant that the perpetrators of the criminal offence of violent behaviour under Article 331 § 1 of the Criminal Code were D.K. and I.M., who were children below 14 years of age, and that therefore no criminal proceedings could be instituted against them. The second applicant was instructed that she could bring a claim for compensation in civil proceedings.
21.  A police report of 5 September 2009 states that on that day the second applicant called the police at 8.40 p.m. complaining about noise in the park. When the police arrived at 8.45, the second applicant told them that in the meantime the children had left.
22.  A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 8 September 2009 indicates that he had constantly been harassed by children, who had burned his hands, shouted at him and made noise in front of the applicants’ balcony. It stated that it was necessary for the first applicant to spend time outdoors.
23.  A report drawn up on 17 September 2009 by the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre indicates that they had interviewed I.M. and his mother. Since I.M. expressed regret about the incident of 4 April 2009, there was no need for any further measures.
24.  On an unspecified date in September 2009 the headmaster of A.K. primary school sent a letter to the parents informing them that in their neighbourhood lived a young man with disabilities named Dalibor who had been frequently harassed by schoolchildren. The headmaster expressly stated that the children had admitted to “a number of brutal acts” against Dalibor, such as making derogatory remarks, using insulting language and swearing, behaving provocatively, taking his ball and burning his hands with cigarettes. The parents were asked to talk to their children and warn them about the possible consequences of such behaviour.
25.  The relevant part of the written record of a parent-teacher meeting held on 30 September 2009 at A.K. primary school reads as follows:
“...
At all parent-teacher meetings in the new school year we have drawn the parents’ attention to a young man with special needs who lives in the school’s neighbourhood and who has been harassed by pupils from our school, mostly verbally and sometimes physically. His mother often seeks help from the school employees, and a social welfare centre and the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities have also been involved. The parents were asked to talk to their children and raise their awareness about the problem of accepting differences and the need for peaceful coexistence.
The parents present commented on the matter. Some of them mentioned that the young man in question had sometimes also been aggressive, that he had approached young girls in an inappropriate manner and that they had expressed a fear of him and tended to avoid the area where he usually was. Some also commented that he should not be out in public and that he should spend time in conditions appropriate for him or in the park under the constant supervision of a guardian. The headmaster noted all the comments and promised to contact the competent social welfare centre.
...”
26.  On 1 October 2009 the applicants’ lawyer sent a written complaint to the Zagreb Municipality State Attorney’s Office. She stated that her clients were two Croatian nationals of Serbian origin, a mother and her son who suffered from mental and physical retardation. She explained that her clients lived about seventy metres away from A.K. primary school and that they had been constantly harassed by schoolchildren, at all times of the day and mainly when the children went home from school in groups and in the late afternoon and evening when they gathered around a bench in front of the applicants’ balcony without parental supervision. She alleged that the harassment had already been going on for about four years and was motivated by the applicants’ Serbian origin and the first applicant’s disability. A group of children aged from 10 to 14 hung around daily in front of the block of flats where the applicants lived, shouting insults and obscenities and calling them names. They also wrote insulting remarks on the pavement in front of the building.
The lawyer further described the incident of 4 April 2009. Relying on Articles 8 and 13 of the Convention, she complained that there was no effective remedy in the Croatian legal system affording protection from violent acts by children.
She also described the events of 5 and 7 September 2009, when a group of children had insulted the first applicant and, on the latter date, taken a ball from him. On 10 September 2009 a group of boys had urinated in front of the applicants’ door. On 14 September 2009 about fourteen pupils from the fourth and fifth grades had pushed the first applicant, insulted him and taken a ball from him. The day after a boy had shouted insults at him.
She also alleged that the children had physically attacked the first applicant on at least ten different occasions and had often spat at him. On 31 July 2008 the children had ruined the applicants’ balcony by tearing up all the flower beds and by throwing stones and mud onto the balcony. A few days later they had thrown a carton of chocolate milk onto the balcony.
The second applicant had reported the harassment to the social services, the police, the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities and the school authorities. Despite the good will of all those concerned, the harassment of the applicants had continued.
27.  A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 7 October 2009 indicates that he had constantly been harassed by children.
28.  A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 9 November 2009 indicates that he had been attacked by children a few days before, which had greatly upset him. Psychotherapy was recommended.
29.  A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 14 December 2009 states that “everyone hit him mercilessly with snowballs”, which had scared him.
30.  A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 14 January 2010 indicates that the first applicant suffered from constant anxiety and a feeling of being persecuted because “nothing ha[d] been done to resolve his situation”.
31.  A police report of 19 March 2010 states that the second applicant called the police that day at 9.18 p.m. because of “problems with children”. When the police arrived at 9.25 p.m. the second applicant told them that the children had been playing with a ball in the park and had then hit her window with the ball and run away.
32.  A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 11 April 2010 indicates that the first applicant was attacked by a group of children and was hit by a ball on the nose.
33.   The applicants alleged that on 13 May 2010 a group of children, including a boy, P., pushed the first applicant against an iron fence in the park. He fell and hit his head and right leg. He was disoriented and uncommunicative for three days. Medical documents drawn up on the same day show that the first applicant suffered from swelling in his right leg and skin abrasion on the left side of his forehead. He was unable to walk for five days and the second applicant had to borrow a wheelchair for him. The medical report also indicates that the first applicant had stumbled and sprained his ankle and had also hit his head.
34.  On 14 May 2010 the second applicant complained to the police that on 13 May 2010 a boy, P.B., had pushed the first applicant against a wall and had also taken his ball.
35.  On 20 May 2010 the applicants’ lawyer wrote to the Zagreb Municipality State Attorney’s Office complaining that since her last letter of October 2009, there had been further incidents of violence and harassment against the applicants. The relevant part of the letter reads:
“...
On 5 November 2009 two boys, one of whom was P., verbally abused the first applicant, which scared him.
The second applicant informed the school counsellor about the incident but has not received a reply.
On 14, 18 and 21 December 2009 a group of children threw snow at the applicants’ window and on one of those occasions covered their balcony with snow.
On 15 December 2009 a group of children verbally insulted the first applicant in the street. On 22 February 2010 the second applicant was called by a social worker from the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre, J.S., who told her that the only way to resolve the situation was to bring a civil action.
On 19 March 2010 the children kept throwing a ball at the applicants’ windows, about which the police were informed. On 20 March 2010, while the first applicant was riding on a bus, a group of children shouted his name, which upset him.
On 10 April 2010 a boy whose first name was R. hit the first applicant on the nose with a ball, which disoriented him and caused him pain. The second applicant informed the police about it. The police conducted a two-hour interview with her and expressed their regret but informed the second applicant that nothing could be done because any kind of inquiry would show that the children had only been joking.
On 13 May 2010 a group of children, including P., pushed the first applicant against an iron fence in the park. He fell and hit his head and right leg. He was disoriented and uncommunicative for three days.
On 18 May 2010, when the first applicant was sitting on a swing, a group of children approached him and made obscene gestures and told him that he was stupid.”
36.  On the same day the lawyer complained about the harassment of the applicants to the Ombudswoman for Children and asked for advice.
37.  The applicants alleged that on 24 May 2010 a group of boys hit the first applicant’s head against an iron fence in the park and said that they enjoyed it. A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on the same day indicates that he had been pushed against an iron fence and had hit his head on it.
38.  On 25 May 2010 the Zagreb Municipality State Attorney’s Office informed the applicants’ lawyer that it had no jurisdiction in the matter since the complaints concerned children who were not criminally responsible.
39.  On 26 May 2010 the headmaster of A.K. primary school informed the applicants’ lawyer that the school authorities had taken all measures they deemed appropriate, such as discussion with the pupils concerned and the provision of information to all parents at parent-teacher meetings about the problems the applicants had encountered with the pupils.
40.  On 31 May 2010 the Ombudswoman for Children informed the applicants’ counsel that she had no jurisdiction in the matter.
41.  A medical report in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 29 June 2010 indicates that he had continually been attacked by children in the neighbourhood.
42.  Medical reports in respect of the first applicant drawn up on 29 June, 25 October and 24 November 2010 and 9 February 2011 indicate that the first applicant had continually been attacked by children in the neighbourhood.
43.  On 1 July 2010 the police interviewed P.B., a pupil attending A.K. primary school, about the incidents of 13 and 14 May 2010, in which he denied his involvement.
44.  The applicants alleged that on 13 July 2010 at 9 p.m. four boys and a girl made repeated lewd comments in a loud voice under the applicants’ window. When the second applicant asked them to be quiet they replied provocatively, using the Serbian dialect in direct allusion to the applicants’ Serbian origin, telling her: “Call the police, we are not afraid [zovi bre policiju, mi se ne bojimo]”. The second applicant reported this incident on 14 July 2010 to a social worker from the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre, Ms J.S.
45.  On 19 July 2010 the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre interviewed V.K., who lived in the same block of flats as the applicants. She denied her involvement in the harassment of the applicants. She also said that children and alcoholics frequently gathered at the bench in front of the block of flats where she lived and made screaming noises, which irritated her family as well.
46.  On 2 August 2010 the Susedgrad Social Welfare Centre informed the police that the second applicant had complained of continued harassment and violence against the first applicant. The police were asked to take appropriate measures.
47.  On 26 August 2010 the police interviewed Z.B., a pupil attending A.K. primary school, who denied any involvement in the harassment of the first applicant.
48.  On 27 August 2010 the second applicant asked the Zagreb Municipality for the wooden bench beneath the applicants’ window to be removed.
49.  The applicants alleged that on 31 August 2010 at around 3 p.m., when they were returning home from a shop, a boy known to them as M. rode past them on a bicycle and shouted insults at the first applicant, saying, inter alia: “Dalibor is a fag”. The first applicant felt extremely anxious and stressed.
50.  The applicants alleged that on 1 September 2010 at 6.45 p.m. three boys on bicycles rode up in front of their window and threw rubbish and screamed. At 7.20 p.m. more children gathered around the wooden bench in front of the applicants’ window and repeatedly hit a nearby metal fence, thus making a lot of noise. They also threw a stone at the applicants’ window and made lewd comments in loud voices. At 10.03 p.m. the second applicant called the police. Since the police did not come, she called them again at 10.28 p.m. The police said that they would come but that they had other calls to answer as well. The police arrived at 10.32 p.m. and told the children to move a few metres away from the applicants’ window. They made no attempt to identify the children. A police report of the same day indicates that at 9.21 p.m. the second applicant had called the police and complained about noise in the park. When the police arrived at 10.35 p.m. they had not found anyone in front of the building.
51.  The applicants alleged that on 3 September 2010 a group of about ten children gathered around the bench and made an unbearable amount of noise. At 10.15 p.m. the second applicant called the police, who arrived at 10.40 p.m. and ordered the children to go away, without, however, making any attempt to identify them. A police report of the same day indicates that at 10.20 p.m. the second applicant had called the police and complained about noise in the park. When the police arrived at 10.25 p.m. they had not found anyone.
52.  The applicants alleged that on 5 September 2010 at about 9 p.m. they noticed, on returning from church, that an unidentified white substance had been thrown at their window in their absence. There were also some children screaming under their window. At 10 p.m. the second applicant called the police. The applicants further alleged that on 7, 8, 14, 23 and 27 September 2010, children gathered around the bench and made an unbearable amount of noise.
53.  On 23 September 2010 the police interviewed I.S., a pupil attending A.K. primary school, who denied any involvement in the harassment of the first applicant.
54.  The applicants alleged that on 2 October 2010 five boys gathered around the bench and made loud noises. At 7.40 p.m. seven boys threw balls at the applicants’ window and made noise until late at night. At 11.38 p.m. the second applicant called the police, who arrived at a quarter past midnight and told the boys to leave without asking them any questions or making any attempt to identify them. A police report of the same day indicates that the second applicant had called the police at 11.40 p.m. and complained about noise. When the police had arrived at a quarter past midnight they had not found anyone.
55.  The applicants further alleged that on 4 October 2010 at 4 a.m. they were awakened by a car alarm outside their window. Some children were banging on the outer wall of their flat, making a very loud noise. The first applicant’s pet rabbit died that night and he attributed the rabbit’s death to the events of that night, which made him extremely upset. On 15 October 2010, while the applicants were not at home, someone spat on their living-room window until it was completely covered in saliva. On 23 October and 7, 14 and 19 November 2010 groups of children gathered around the bench, making a lot of noise.
56.  On 17 November 2010 the Zagreb Municipality informed the second applicant that her request for the removal of the bench situated beneath the balcony of the applicants’ flat had been denied.
57.  The applicants alleged that on 22 November 2010, while they were coming home from a shop, a group of children shouted after them: “Dalibor, Dalibor!” The first applicant was paralysed with fear and asked his mother why they would not leave him alone. The second applicant wrote to the Office of the President of Croatia and the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities about the harassment of her son, seeking their assistance in connection with the removal of the bench. On 5 December 2010 at around midnight some children threw snowballs at the applicants’ window, which terrified the first applicant.
58.  On 14 December 2010 the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities recommended to the Zagreb Municipality that the bench be removed. The bench was removed in February 2011. The applicants alleged that on the same day, some children destroyed a metal container under their window where the gas meters were located.
59.  The applicants alleged that further incidents occurred as follows. On 5 February 2011 a group of children shouted provocatively at the second applicant on the street, using the Serbian dialect (“De si bre?”). On 8 February 2011 at 6.40 p.m. some children rang the applicants’ doorbell and then ran away. On 10 February 2011 the applicants went to a hairdresser, taking a detour in order to avoid the children. However, they met a group of children who shouted “Dalibor!” in a provocative manner. On 13 February 2011 at 12.30 p.m. seven boys ran around the applicants’ flat, banged on the walls, climbed onto their balcony, peered into the flat and laughed loudly. At 9.45 p.m. a group of boys sang the song “We are Croats” beneath the applicants’ window.
60.  A medical report of 9 March 2011 in respect of the first applicant indicates that owing to stress he often bit his lips and fists, and that he had a twitch in his left eye and symptoms of psoriasis. It also mentioned that he had frequently been attacked and ridiculed and that it was necessary to ensure a calm and friendly environment for him.